Voter Nominated Offices

Under the California Constitution, political parties are not entitled to formally nominate candidates for voter-nominated offices at the Primary Election, and a candidate nominated for a voter-nominated office at the Primary Election is not the official nominee of any party for the office in question at the ensuing General Election. A candidate for nomination or election to a voter-nominated office must, however, designate his or her party preference, or lack of party preference, and have that designation reflected on the Primary and General Election ballot, but the party designation so indicated is selected solely by the candidate and is shown for the information of the voters only. It does not constitute or imply an endorsement of the candidate by the party designated, and no candidate nominated by the qualified voters for any voter-nominated office shall be deemed to be the officially nominated candidate of any political party. The parties may have a list of candidates for voter-nominated offices, who have received the official endorsement of the party, printed in the sample ballot.

All voters, regardless of the party for which they have expressed a preference upon registering, or of their refusal to disclose a party preference, may vote for any candidate for a voter-nominated office, provided they meet the other qualifications required to vote for that office. The top two vote-getters at the Primary Election advance to the General Election for the voter-nominated office, and both candidates may have specified the same party preference designation. No party is entitled to have a candidate with its party preference designation participate in the General Election unless such candidate is one of the two highest vote-getters at the Primary Election.